Hanson Tickets : All Three Boys Started Their Musical Careers As Pianists

Hanson is an American pop band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by brothers Isaac (guitar, vocals), Taylor (keyboards, piano, vocals), and Zac Hanson (drums, vocals). They are often thought of as a one-hit wonder best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations.

Despite the enormous commercial success of Middle Of Nowhere, the band suffered from the merger that eliminated Mercury Records and were moved to Island Def Jam Music Group, which they eventually left after conflict with the label about creative input. Hanson had sold over 15 million records worldwide and had 8 top 40 singles in the UK and 6 top 40 singles in the US. The band now records under its own label, 3CG Records.

The three young boys sang acappella and recorded songs like "Rockin' Robin", "Splish Splash" and "Johnny B. Goode", as well as their own material. Their first performance as a professional group took place in 1992 at the Mayfest Arts Festival in Tulsa.Hanson also appeared on Carman's Yo! Kidz: The Vidz, which included Taylor cast as a young Biblical David facing Goliath, Isaac cast as an event announcer, and other members of the family including Zac in the stands cheering on this "sporting event".

All three boys started their musical careers as pianists. Isaac later picked up a second-hand guitar, Zac borrowed an old set of drums, and Taylor became the keyboard player of what turned into a garage band. The band recorded two independent albums in their hometown of Tulsa, Boomerang (recorded in autumn 1994, released in 1995) and MMMBop (released in 1996). The latter featured the original version of the song "MMMBop" which would later become the runaway single on their debut commercial record Middle Of Nowhere.

The boys then found themselves at the South By Southwest (aka SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas. There, they were promptly signed by manager Christopher Sabec.He shopped them to several record companies, most of which dismissed the band as either a novelty or fraud before Steve Greenberg, an A&R representative for Mercury Records, heard them play a set at the Kansas State Fair.

After this performance, they were signed almost immediately by Mercury. They soon became a worldwide sensation with the release of their first major-label album, Middle of Nowhere, which was produced by the Dust Brothers.On June 8, 2010, Hanson's eighth studio record was released. Shout it Out debuted at number 30 on Billboard Top 200, number 2 on the Indie chart, and #16 on the digital chart.

On June 15, 2010, the band's free concert at the South Street Seaport in New York City rather incongruously ended in a riot after an estimated 20,000 fans showed up at a venue which could only accommodate half that many people. The rapper Drake was also on the bill.Hanson offered a "platinum package" of their Shout It Out record which included artwork
hand-painted by the band's members. In October, 2010, Hanson released "The 113 Painting Book" which includes the paintings they created for these packages.

To promote their new album, Shout It Out, Hanson toured from July 2010 through November 2010. The tour kicked off in Buffalo, NY on July 21, with the final show in Toronto, ON, on November 23. Throughout the tour, the band broadcasted live streams from their website. The footage included introducing the local musician winners of their opening band contest, a few full length concerts, and walks with fans to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa for their Take the Walk Campaign.

One of the most notable concerts included two days in November at Walt Disney World Resort's Food and Wine Festival for the Eat to the Beat concert series.As an April Fools' Day joke, Hanson covered the song "Wait and Bleed" by the heavy metal band Slipknot, and the website Shockhound claimed that Hanson would record an entire album of Slipknot covers.

On April 25, 2011, Hanson sang their hit "MMMBop" on the U.S. version of Dancing With the Stars. They were recently interviewed by Iain Lee for his late night radio show on Absolute Radio which was broadcast on 7 June 2011.The Band also makes a cameo in Katy Perry's Music Video for her song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)".